Repository: UIHistories Project: Board of Trustees Minutes - 1944 [PAGE 69]

EXTRACTED TEXT FROM PAGE:

66

BOARD OF T R U S T E E S

[August 29

c. In response to this request a committee was appointed to study the possibilities of setting up such a program. (1) Personnel of committee: Professor J. A. Fairlie, of the Department of Political Science, Chairman. Professor H . M. Gray, of the Department of Economics. Professor G. W . Goble, of the College of Law (replaced by Professor W . E. Britton). Professor C. R. Griffith, Director of the Bureau of Institutional Research. Professor B. F . Timmons, of the Department of Sociology. (2) Time involved in this preliminary survey of possibilities was about a year in frequent committee meetings. (3) Matters considered by the committee: ( a ) Standards required for a good school: existing resources of the University in personnel and courses usable for this purpose; additional courses and personnel required to meet minimum standards; requirements of the American Association of Schools of Social Work, with which agency the committee was in constant touch by correspondence. (b) Probable cost of the new adjustments to the University. (4) Recommendations of committee: ( a ) T h e establishment of a two-year curriculum beyond graduation meeting the minimum requirements of the national accrediting agency for schools of social work. T h e first year was to be in the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences and the second in the Graduate School. (b) Select the new staff members to meet professional standards. T h e advice of these new members to be sought in carrying further the program, (c) Some existing member of the faculty familiar with the University to direct and orientate the training program into the larger University life for the first year or so. ( d ) A yearly budget of $15,000 was regarded as sufficient to provide for the new curriculum. d. The plan as drawn up by the Fairlie committee was approved by the College Policy Committee and the faculty of the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences in the spring of 1939, and was recommended jointly by the University Senate and the Executive Faculty of the Graduate School. e. The Board of Trustees of the University approved the plan May 26, 1939, and a budget of $10,000 was approved July 21, 1939, to carry out the program for the first year (1939-1940). f. An administrative committee (Professor J. A. Fairlie, Head of Department of Political Science; Professor H . M. Gray, Department of Economics; and Professor B. F . Timmons, Department of Sociology, Chairman) was appointed in July, 1939, to direct the program. (1) Reasons this type of organization was chosen: ( a ) Economy of cost during an experimental stage by using existing staff members, (b) Efficiency of coordination with existing courses would be facilitated because of committee members' familiarity with the University, (c) Retrenchment would not be so difficult in case the experiment did not expand as it would be if a full complement of personnel and organizational equipment were provided at the beginning. It is a recognized difficulty of university administration to find highly capable persons who are willing to spend short periods in an experimental program. This difficulty was experienced in the effort to secure outstanding persons for the professional faculty of Social Administration. (2) Functions of committee: ( a ) T o inspect and to recommend appropriate courses and course content for inclusion in the curriculum, and to make the initial contacts with social agencies for field work, (b) T o make contacts by correspondence and interviews with candidates for staff positions among professional personnel and to make appropriate recommendations, (c) T o submit and check information regarding the program in University bulletins, ( d ) T o advise and guide students in selection of courses and in the matter of enrollment in the Social Administration curriculum, ( e ) T o make the usual esti-